arachnophobia

I am not particularly afraid of spiders, nor do they rank among my favorite things in the world.

Yesterday, I had an interesting experience with a now deceased spider.

We are driving to Dan H's house to return some things from the canoe trip. We see Jeff M out in his front yard. We stop to visit. The truck is still moving as I start to roll down the window. The electric window motor drops the window pretty fast.

I don't know where he came from, but it was like he was just waiting to drop. A big, half dollar sized spider came falling from the top of the window. On a string, the wind blew him right into the cab of the truck. I freaked out.

The truck is still rolling, Jeff is walking over to visit, and I am hopping, leaning, falling away from the giant spider. I finally regain my composure, blow him outside and roll up the window. I put the truck in park, step out side, explain to Jeff my strange actions, and we both look for the culprit. He is located and summarily dispatched to his heavenly home.

I got to thinking later about how we respond in difficult, surprising situations. Had I know what was going to happen with the spider, I might have been ready to respond. Instead, I went spider nuts.

Sometimes in life when we are surprised by the actions of others, we overreact as well. How much better it would be if I could think harder about what is happening and maintain my composure when the heat is on. I think that this is more glorifying to God than me having to apologize for an out of character response.

I am glad that God can help us with our humanity. Our ability to act more graciously, even in tough situations, is only limited by our ability to get into the habit of trusting Him.

Spiders beware. Next time you are on the prowl, I am going to be ready. You aren't going to scare me.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.